(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to livestock feed mainly consisting of refuse produced in the preparation of soybean curd and soybean milk.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The global foodstuff conditions at present and in future involve serious latent problems. Namely, recent abnormal global atmospheric phenomena and the conversion of the green tracts of land into deserts cast a dark outlook on the preservation of human foodstuff. This gloomy tendency is expected to continue in the future. On the other hand, the diet of people is some quarters of the world is abundant. As a result, there is an increasing demand for high quality delicious food and a tendency toward an enormous consumption of meat. At present, however, difficulties are arising in the procurement of feed for livestock utilized as meat due to the above-mentioned recent global abnormal atmospheric condition.
Therefore, various attempts are being made to cope with the shortage of livestock feed under the circumstances mentioned above.
For instance, it has hitherto been tried to apply the refuse derived from soybean curd and soybean milk production as a useful feed for livestock, for example, pigs. The soybean curd and soybean milk, foodstuff peculiar to Japan, are now widely disseminated over the world. However, the process of effectively utilizing the above-mentioned refuse, hereafter referred to as "okara", is still regarded as unsatisfactory. Therefore, the most of the okara is simply wasted today. Consequently, the object of this invention is to save the precious cereal resources by utilizing "okara" as livestock feed.
Hitherto, however, okara has been applied as livestock feed in the form mixed with the other kinds of livestock feed. However, feeding of okara intack to livestock has been accompanied with the undermentioned drawbacks:
(1) okara is decomposed in a day or two, presenting difficulties in preservation and transportation;
(2) feeding of a large amount of okara leads to a decline in the fleshy portion of livestock, usable as meat, though increasing the fatty content. Further, the fat tends to turn yellow, considerably depreciating the commercial value of the meat; and
(3) Constantly feeding a great deal of okara causes the livestock to suffer from diseases such as a gastric ulcers.
The above-listed drawbacks of okara as livestock feed are detrimental. Therefore, the utilization of okara as livestock feed has its importance questioned and is recently beginning to be avoided.
On the other hand, the soybean curd and soybean milk are being consumed in increasingly higher quantities. Moreover, the manufacturing of soybean products is being shifted from the house hold scale to the large industrial scale, thereby resulting in the discharge of tremendous quantities of okara. As mentioned above, however, a decline in the utilization of okara as livestock feed causes this soybean refuse to be simply wasted.